


meeting burt (& finn, again)

by nightbirdrises



Series: Sinking 'verse [6]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2014-09-28
Packaged: 2018-02-19 01:22:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2369204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightbirdrises/pseuds/nightbirdrises
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Even if you were a heartbreaker, I'd still be here."</p>
            </blockquote>





	meeting burt (& finn, again)

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings for this segment: none.
> 
> You can read Sinking in chronological order using [this page](http://princehummel.tumblr.com/sinking), or you can read it in the order of events as I wrote them [here](http://princehummel.tumblr.com/tagged/v%3A+sinking/chrono).

Blaine pulled up to a medium-sized house painted with the standard pale blue of the neighborhood, though he thought he could see some faded splashes of brighter colors along one side — the work of a younger Kurt, maybe? He shrugged and got out of the car before heading towards the front door, hoping dearly that this was the right place.

Spotting a discarded cigarette on the sidewalk leading up to the house, he decided that it was.

Kurt had told him that he could just walk right in, so he did, albeit anxiously. On the inside, the house was neat and clean and ordinary — a typical small-town home. Except different in a way that he couldn’t put into words; it was different because this was Kurt’s home and, Kurt being who he was, he changed things. He had definitely changed Blaine, though for better or worse he wasn’t yet sure.

"Carole, is that you?" 

Blaine froze in the narrow hallway, the voice having come from somewhere just ahead that was most likely the living room. It was gruff and worn — nothing like Kurt’s voice, yet there was only one person this could be.

He took a deep breath and stepped ahead into the view of a man sitting comfortably on an old leather armchair, who seemed invested in a sports news cast on TV.

"Hi," Blaine said, "I’m, uh, Blaine. Blaine Anderson."

The man looked up then, eyebrows raised at the sight of Blaine.

"Burt Hummel," he said slowly. "Are you one of Finn’s friends?"

 _Oh._  Kurt hadn’t told his dad about him, apparently. It hurt a bit more than Blaine was willing to admit to himself.

"No— I mean, I am, I’m on the football team, but I’m here for Kurt."

"How many times do I gotta tell him," Burt sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Sorry kid, but this isn’t the place for whatever shenanigans you’re planning on getting up to."

"What? No, no shenanigans. I’m his boyfriend." Burt looked at him as though he’d just announced that he was an alien from Pluto. "He asked me to meet him here."

"Boyfriend, huh?" Blaine nodded, trying for a smile to ease the obvious tension. He should really have been prepared for the ‘meet the father’ deal, but there was nothing he could do about that now. "Look, I’m gonna be straight with you here. I love my son, but I don’t know if you want to go down this road. For all either of us knows, you could end up in gettin' ditched, you know what I mean?"

"I do, Mr. Hummel—"

"Burt."

"Burt. I understand what you’re saying, but Kurt, he…" Blaine searched for the right words, each sentence sounding too devoted, too cheesy, too utterly in love. Not that he was sure it was love yet, but the notion was there. "He’s amazing. Whatever happens, I want to share in that, if you’ll let me."

Burt didn’t answer for a few long seconds, each passing tick of the clock further convincing Blaine that he should just leave and give up entirely. He didn’t want to go behind anyone’s back, particularly not Burt’s.

"Kurt’ll probably be home soon," he said at last, tipping his head towards the stairs. "You can wait up in his room. Third on the left."

"Oh, um, thank you," Blaine mumbled, turning around. "It was nice meeting you."

"Blaine?"

He stopped and looked at Burt, who had a small smile on his face as he watched Blaine.

"Thank you."

"For what?" Blaine asked, confused. Burt shrugged.

"I guess for being here. For giving him a chance when life kinda just gave up on him." Blaine glanced at the floor, overwhelmed with the realization that he knew next to nothing about Kurt and his life, aside from the obvious. He hoped that he could be trusted, in time, to learn — but for now, he was content to just be.

"Thank you," he said.  _For trusting me_ , he added silently, knowing that Burt would understand somehow. He seemed like the kind of guy that had spent his whole life learning how to understand — and with a son like Kurt, he probably was.

"Door open," Burt called when he started to climb the steps, and Blaine couldn’t help but grin at that. It seemed so… normal. Or, as normal as things could possibly be.

At the top of the stairs, Blaine looked around. Fifth on the right… no, left. Or was it fourth? He started down the hallway and peered into each room as he passed, trying to determine which room was Kurt’s without infringing upon anyone’s privacy. One door was closed, and he could hear faint blasting sounds from behind it — Finn, playing a video game, he assumed.

He came to a door that he was about seventy percent sure was the right one and pushed it open carefully. It was a bedroom, painted in hues of red, but it didn’t seem like  _Kurt_. Blaine stepped inside to get a better look and caught a whiff of something strikingly familiar. He followed the scent to a rickety dresser in the corner, the drawers of which looked as though they had been closed in haste — a sock sticking out here, a flannel shirt sleeve there. 

Most noticeable, however, was the smell. Like a Hawaiian beach, but different. The smell of salty ocean mist, of fruit cocktails, of sandalwood, even of roses. It was strange to sense it without a trace of cigarette smoke, but it was certainly the same smell that Blaine associated with Kurt.

He backed out of the room and nearly yelped when he saw Kurt standing just outside the door, a faint smirk on his face and the dry erase board held out in front of him.

 _Care to explain?_  was written on it.

Blaine took the board and wrote,  _Wrong room, I’m really sorry,_  adding a sad face for emphasis. When Kurt saw it, he rolled his eyes.

 _It’s fine,_  he wrote back.  _I’ll save you from your embarrassment by showing you which room is actually mine and not my dad’s._

Blaine wondered at that; Burt didn’t seem like he would use a scent like the one in the dresser, at least not regularly. He wanted to ask Kurt, but something held him back. Maybe it was just that he felt guilty about prying. Maybe he felt that it was too private to talk about only a week into their relationship, even though he couldn’t say why that would be.

"Blaine?" He forced himself out of his thoughts to look at Kurt, who seemed concerned. Blaine shook his head, hesitating for a moment before leaning in to press a kiss to Kurt’s lips — after all, he had every right to do that, and he wasn’t about to slack off.

Kurt went rigid for a split-second in surprise before kissing back, hard, the board dropping to the floor as he reached for the back of Blaine’s neck to hold him steady. 

"Whoa, what the  _hell_?”

Blaine broke away from Kurt, who groaned in frustration and tried to reel him back in, not having heard anything. But Blaine shook his head urgently and glanced down the hall, drawing Kurt’s gaze with him.

Standing there was Finn, eyes wide and appearing completely taken aback.

"Blaine, what are you doing?" he asked, looking between the two of them.

Kurt must have caught the gist of the conversation, saying, “Do you have a problem with your teammate dating your stepbrother, Finn?”

Finn gaped at him, then at Blaine, eyes searching for the punchline. “Are you two seriously…”

"Yeah," Blaine muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as heat rose in his cheeks. "I guess you could say we’re boyfriends. Have been for over a week."  _Has it really only been that long?_

"Okay, well, I’ll text you later about practice," Finn said, giving Blaine a look that obviously meant  _We need to talk._  “I’ll just, um, go.”

"Don’t worry," Kurt called after him, his tone biting. "I won’t tear your precious kicker to pieces like the fucking heartbreaker you all think I am." Finn didn’t respond, dithering on the spot before going down the stairs in silence.

Blaine was rooted to the spot, feeling distinctly uncomfortable as Kurt fumed next to him. Without warning, he was pushed against the wall, Kurt’s mouth insistent and unforgiving against his.

And then it was gone, Blaine blinking his eyes open to see Kurt watching him with an unreadable expression.

"I’m sorry, I shouldn’t —  _God_ , it’s just fucking unfair that you have to be dragged into this shit, too. You don’t deserve that.”

"You don’t, either," Blaine tried to say, but Kurt wasn’t reading his lips. Instead he was backing away to sit against the opposite wall, a hand rubbing over his forehead in a way that reminded Blaine of Burt from not so long ago. Blaine sat against the wall that he was already pressed up against, picking up the board and writing a short sentence on it before showing it to Kurt from across the hall.

_Even if you were a heartbreaker, I’d still be here_

Kurt snorted. “Why’s that?”

_Because everyone deserves someone on their side for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, until one of them makes a fool out of himself by reciting wedding vows_

"Oh my god," Kurt mumbled, hiding his face in his hands — though Blaine saw a definite smile. "You’re a regular Prince Charming," he added once he looked back up.

 _I’ll take it,_  Blaine wrote, grinning.

As Kurt watched him, blue eyes losing their coldness, Blaine decided that he’d take anything that came his way as long as it meant he got to have his shot with the beautiful, flawed, life-worn boy in front of him.


End file.
